The Album Leaf - A Chorus Of Storytellers

If you find The Postal Service a bit too raucous, try Jimmy Lavelle’s woozy electro lullabies. In fact, The Album Leaf (previously a solo nom-de-plume, now extended to a full band line-up) comfortably pre-date the Ben Gibbard/Jimmy Tamberello team-up, with A Chorus Of Storytellers marking a decade of slow-burn minimalism. Its subtlety is either its chief selling point or its principal failing, depending on your taste: the first group will swoon to spluttering beats reminiscent of Four Tet’s Rounds and bask in the gently romantic atmosphere; those in the latter will rub their eyes and appreciate the nap it induced. Assuming you belong to the former, this is a treat, the move from solo bedroom producer to full studio-band help putting flesh on synthetic bones. At any rate, if you’re still awaiting Give Up’s sequel, the Album Leaf are a safer bet than Owl City’s copyright-infringing facsimile, that's for sure. [Chris Buckle]